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Auld Lang Supplies

Photographs (left) by Peter Frank Edwards & (right) by Terry Kuzniar

December 29, 2010

Auld Lang SuppliesA spread of New Year’s Day dishes for a new decade filled with good fortune

January 1st is just around the corner, so are you ready to ring in the New Year with all of the requisite well wishes and good dishes? To ensure that your 2011 is in check, we’re offering up three delicious recipes that we’ve collected over the years from some local chefs and an historical hostess. Here, you’ll find Charlotte Jenkins’ collard greens with ham hocks for prosperity; Ben Berryhill’s “Texas Caviar,” a cool black-eyed pea salad sure to bring good luck; and a version of Miss Sarah Rutledge’s champagne cocktail to keep things bubbly as the decade turns. Happy New Year from the Charleston magazine staff!

Rinse ham hocks. Place in large pot with water, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for two and a half hours, or until ham hocks are tender. Cool. Remove meat from bones and place back into cooking pot, discarding any fat and unnecessary parts.

Place collard greens in a sink filled with cold water and sprinkle with salt to wash out the sand. Wash again with salt and a third time without salt. Cut leaves off stalks and into thirds.

Remove ham hocks from pot. Place collards in pot with ham hock liquid. Sprinkle with sugar. Top greens with ham hock meat. Cover and cook for one hour, or until tender. Add crushed pepper flakes for the final 10 minutes of cooking.

Cover peas in water and soak for five hours. Drain. Put peas and ham hock or kosher salt pork in a pot with enough water to cover them and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until tender but not overcooked, about 30 to 45 minutes. Drain cooking liquid and remove ham hock or kosher salt pork. Allow peas to cool.

Sauté corn in one tablespoon of olive oil until tender. Combine all ingredients except salt and pepper and mix well. Season. Cover, refrigerate, and serve cold. (Chef’s note: dish can be made up to a day in advance.)

Shake together cognac or bourbon, lemon slices, and crushed ice in a cocktail shaker. Drop a sugar cube and a curl of lemon zest into each of four flutes. Strain the cognac into the glasses and then fill each with well-chilled champagne.

*Serving suggestions:
If you want to dress up the drinks, you could add a few drops of Angostura bitters to each or saturate the sugar cubes with three or four drops of bitters before dropping them into the glass. You may also use orange zest instead of lemon and substitute two jiggers of Curaçao or Grand Marnier (or a jigger of each) for half of the cognac. For a flavorful addition to champagne cocktails, use the round channel cutter on the side of a bar zester to cut a curl of lemon zest to drop into each glass.

To read how Red Drum chef-owner Ben Berryhill and his family celebrate New Year’s with staff and friends, click here.